INCLUSO Game

INCLUSO Conference

Literature

A face(book) in the crowd: social Searching vs. social browsing

Author

Cliff Lampe

Author

Nicole Ellison

Author

Charles Steinfield

Abstract

Large numbers of college students have become avid Facebook users in a short period of time. In this paper, we explore whether these students are using Facebook to find new people in their offline communities or to learn more about people they initially meet offline. Our data suggest that users are largely employing Facebook to learn more about people they meet offline, and are less likely to use the site to initiate new connections.

Adolescents' identity experiments on the internet

Adolescents’ online self-disclosure and self-presentation

Author

Alexander Schouten

Abstract

In this thesis, two social science subjects examined. These issues are related to social software, namely online self-disclosure and online self-presentation. Self disclosure is the expression of intimate information about yourself. Self-presentation means that young people in certain ways present themselves in order to control and influence how they are seen by others. There are insights from empirical theories CMC applied to online communication applications, such as MSN and profile sites. The thesis proposes a number of old-views for discussion, especially the role of anonymity and non-verbal cues play in explaining CMC effects, like self-disclosure. Research shows that online communication may have an impact on the social development through self-disclosure and self-presentation, such as effects on the self-confidence and well-being of young people.

ASSESSING “NEIGHBORHOOD EFFECTS”: Social Processes and New Directions in Research

Author

Robert J. Sampson

Author

Jeffrey D. Morenoff

Author

Thomas Gannon-Rowley

Abstract

This paper assesses and synthesizes the cumulative results of a new “neighborhood-effects” literature that examines social processes related to problem behaviors and health-related outcomes. Our review identified over 40 relevant studies published in peer-reviewed journals from the mid-1990s to 2001, the take-off point for an increasing level of interest in neighborhood effects. Moving beyond traditional characteristics such as concentrated poverty, we evaluate the salience of social-interactional and institutional mechanisms hypothesized to account for neighborhood-level variations in a variety of phenomena (e.g., delinquency, violence, depression, high-risk behavior), especially among adolescents. We highlight neighborhood ties, social control, mutual trust, institutional resources, disorder, and routine activity patterns. We also discuss a set of thorny methodological problems that plague the study of neighborhood effects, with special attention to selection bias. We conclude with promising strategies and directions for future research, including experimental designs, taking spatial and temporal dynamics seriously, systematic observational approaches, and benchmark data on neighborhood social processes.

Assessing the economic returns to investing in youth in developing countries

Author

J.C. Knowles

Author

J.R. Behrman

Institution

Bangkok, Thailand/Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania

Date

2003

Beyond Bowling Together: SocioTechnical Capital

Author

Paul Resnick

Contributor

John Carroll

Abstract

Social resources like trust and shared identity make it easier for people to work and play together. Such social resources are sometimes referred to as social capital. Thirty years ago, Americans built social capital as a side effect of participation in civic organizations and social activities, including bowling leagues. Today, they do so far less frequently (Putnam 2000) . HCI researchers and practitioners need to find new ways for people to interact that will generate even more social capital than bowling together does. A new theoretical construct, SocioTechnical Capital, provides a framework for generating and evaluating technology-mediated social relations.

CASEY A. KLOFSTAD WEBPAGE: RESEARCH

Children and Young People's Home Use of ICT for Educational Purposes: The Impact on Attainment at Key Stages 1-4

Author

G Valentine

Author

J Marsh

Author

C Pattie

Abstract

This research project on behalf of the DfES examined the links between childrens educational uses of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) at home and their performance and attainment in key school subjects. It involved a pupil survey, and interviews with children, parents and teachers, during the summer term of 2004 in 12 English schools. Its main purpose was to investigate the types and amount of home and out-of-school use of ICT by children and young people at Key Stages 1-4, and to establish the relationship between this use and the pupils assessed progress.

This study analyzes the configurations of communication relationships in Korea through face-to-face, email, instant messaging, mobile phone, and short message service media. Through a web survey, we asked respondents to identify (1) for each of the five media (2) up to five of their most frequent communication partners, (3) the partner’s social role (including colleagues, family, friends), and (4) their own employment category. Individual-level and network-level analyses were used to compare variations in communication relationships and configurations of relationships among social roles overall, within each medium, and for different employment categories, and to identify configurations of relationships across media. IM, SMS, and mobile phone are distinctive media for students, mobile phone for homeworkers, and email for organizational workers. Moreover, mobile phones tend to be used in reinforcing strong social ties, and text-based CMC media tend to be used in expanding relationships with weak ties. Finally, face-to-face (FtF) seems to be a universal medium without significant differences across respondents’ employment categories.

Connecting the family home: Co-designing new technologies for Community Communication

Author

B. Van Der Meerssche

Author

M. Godon

Author

M. Vanden Abeele

Author

K. Charliers

Author

V Van Rompaey

Abstract

This paper discusses the methodology and research findings of the EnComPAs (Enabling Community Communications – Platforms and Applications) project. This European project is a Celtic1-labeled project. Research divisions of major telecom companies and universities in four European countries (Finland, Belgium, Spain, and France) are involved. The EnComPAs project aims to investigate how communities (i.e. families) interact with others in their everyday life and how this interaction can be supported or facilitated by communication technologies. Unique in this respect is that these new communication technologies are designed by the user (i.e. the families) together with a multidisciplinary research team consisting of communication sociologists, product designers and engineers applying a qualitative methodology. Lab-based research discards the context in which the user uses communication technologies. It is clear, however, that the design of communication technology evolves beyond the boundaries of the laboratorial setting. More and more engineers and product designers feel the need to investigate the uses of these technologies in the natural setting. In order to fully understand the ways in which communication technology is modeled by everyday family life the research is thus conducted inside the family home. The main focus of this paper will be on the methodological issues associated to this type of research. How to design communication technologies in a multidisciplinary team involving: users, sociologists, product designers and engineers? Results indicate that the co-design technique offers rich information and stimulates families and researchers to stretch the boundaries of their imagination. As such, families deploy creative constructions of reality and the ways in which they want to be connected to other people through artifacts, generating rich ideas for future communication technologies.

Crossing Boundaries: Identity Management and Student/Faculty Relationships on the Facebook

Digital Inclusion: An Analysis of Social Disadvantage and the Information Society

Author

Ellen Helsper

Abstract

This study was commissioned to investigate the extent to which social exclusion and digital exclusion coincide; exploring the questions 'do people who suffer significant social disadvantage also suffer digital exclusion? And if so what are the key social drivers that contribute to digital exclusion?' This project was led by the Oxford Internet Institute, in partnership with the Office for National Statistics and Office of Communications (Ofcom). A framework has been developed which was applied to surveys data from 2007 across the 3 partner organisations. The results of the survey will help to inform digital inclusion policy and actions.

Digital inclusion, social impact: a research study

Digital Literacy - European Commission Working Paper and Recommendations from Digital Literacy

Abstract

This Report presents the outcome of the Digital Literacy Review that the Commission has undertaken as part of the commitments made in the Riga Declaration in 2006 and in the eInclusion Communication in 2007.

DiTV and e-commerce among disadvantaged community groups

Author

K. Keeling

Author

L. A. Macaulay

Author

P. McGoldrick

Abstract

There is growing concern about the role of technological exclusion on deepening economic, political and social inequalities. Many people do not have PC-based Internet access either through geography, lack of money or other disadvantages. At the same time there is continued growth in the use of digital interactive television (DiTV) in the home, suggesting the potential for an alternative channel of Internet access. However, the case for DiTV is not proven, with some evidence of lack of awareness and interest among potential users. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of DiTV as an alternative platform for conducting e-commerce among people who might otherwise be at risk of e-exclusion. The paper is positioned against literature on adoption of DiTV and briefly presents the results of a qualitative study examining consumer beliefs and feelings about shopping via DiTV. Eight key issues arising from the study are used as the focus for a questionnaire distributed among residents in an area of economic deprivation. The main outcomes are a deeper understanding of the pros and cons of DiTV for e-commerce and recommendations for developers wishing to promote e-inclusion.

Do Internet Users Have More Social Ties? A Call for Differentiated Analyses of Internet Use

Author

Shanyang Zhao

Abstract

Research on the impact of Internet use on social ties has generated conflicting results. Based on data from the 2000 General Social Survey, this study finds that different types of Internet usage are differentially related to social connectivity. While nonsocial users of the Internet do not differ significantly from nonusers in network size, social users of the Internet have more social ties than nonusers do. Among social users, heavy email users have more social ties than do light email users. There is indication that, while email users communicate online with people whom they also contact offline, chat users maintain some of their social ties exclusively online. These findings call for differentiated analyses of Internet uses and their effects on interpersonal connectivity.

Does the Internet Increase, Decrease, or Supplement Social Capital? Social Networks, Participation, and Community Commitment

Escaping or connecting? Characteristics of youth who form close online relationships

Author

J Wolak

Abstract

We used data from a US national sample of Internet users, ages 10–17 ( N =1501), to explore the characteristics of youth who had formed close relationships with people they met on the Internet ( n =210). Girls who had high levels of conflict with parents or were highly troubled were more likely than other girls to have close online relationships, as were boys who had low levels of communication with parents or were highly troubled, compared to other boys. Age, race and aspects of Internet use were also related. We know little about the nature or quality of the close online relationships, but youth with these sorts of problems may be more vulnerable to online exploitation and to other possible ill effects of online relationships. At the same time, these relationships may have helpful aspects.

e-Inclusion - New challenges and policy recommendations

Author

Daniel Kaplan

Abstract

The current report contributes to this emerging e-inclusion agenda. It is a far ranging and provocative report from a group of independent experts. Already during its preparation, some of its ideas were taken into account in policy development. And it will undoubtedly continue to be valuable in feeding the debate that will carry us forward towards the 2008 European initiative.

Gradations in digital inclusion: children, young people and the digital divide

Author

Sonia Livingstone

Author

Ellen Helsper

Abstract

Little academic and policy attention has addressed the `digital divide' among children and young people. This article analyses findings from a national survey of UK 919-year-olds that reveal inequalities by age, gender and socioeconomic status in relation to their quality of access to and use of the internet. Since both the extent of use and the reasons for low- and non-use of the internet vary by age, a different explanation for the digital divide is required for children compared with adults. Looking beyond the idea of a binary divide, we propose instead a continuum of digital inclusion. Gradations in frequency of internet use (from non and low users through to weekly and daily users) are found to map onto a progression in the take-up of online opportunities among young people (from basic through moderate to broad and then all-round users), thus beginning to explain why differences in internet use matter, contributing to inclusion and exclusion. Demographic, use and expertise variables are all shown to play a role in accounting for variations in the breadth and depth of internet use. 10.1177/1461444807080335

Growing Up Global: The Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries

Author

Cynthia B. Lloyd

Abstract

The transition to adulthood is a critical stage in human development during which young people leave childhood behind, and take on new roles and responsibilities. Recognizing the need to learn more about this crucial period of life, the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine convened a panel of experts to examine how the transition to adulthood is changing in developing countries in light of globalization and what the implications of these changes might be for those responsible for designing youth policies and programmes. According to the panel's findings, important transformations in young people's lives are under way. In much of the developing world adolescence is a stage of life that is gaining in significance. Young people now have more time than ever before to acquire the information and skills necessary to become effective participants in decisions about their futures. Nevertheless, the book highlights the persistent disadvantages for young women relative to young men, and the special needs of the poor. Youth living in sub-Saharan Africa are also identified to be of special concern.

Publisher

National Academy Press

Date

2005-05-27

Handbook of Research on Socio-Technical Design and Social Networking Systems

Author

Brian Whitworth

Edition

1

Publisher

Information Science Reference

Date

2009-02-27

How does the Internet Affect Social Capital

Author

Haase

Author

Wellman

Abstract

this article. One is the dramatic increase in Internet use since the 1990s, affecting the way people live, work, and play in the developed world. Approximately 60 percent of North American adult households are online, with growing percentages in other countries (Howard, Rainie, & Jones, 2002; Reddick, Boucher, & Groseillers, 2000). For a large proportion of the population of Internet users, Internet access is a daily activity, with more than half of Internet users reporting having been online...

Human capital : A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education

Author

Gary S. Becker

Abstract

Human Capital is Becker's classic study of how investment in an individual's education and training is similar to business investments in equipment. Recipient of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Economic Science, Gary S. Becker is a pioneer of applying economic analysis to human behavior in such areas as discrimination, marriage, family relations, and education. Becker's research on human capital was considered by the Nobel committee to be his most noteworthy contribution to economics.

IMing, Text Messaging, and Adolescent Social Networks

Author

J. Alison Bryant

Author

Ashley Sanders-Jackson

Author

Amber M. K. Smallwood

Abstract

Building on previous research in computer-mediated communication, social and communication networks, and adolescent development, this article raises three issues regarding adolescent use of socially interactive technologies (SITs) and their relationship to offline social networks: 1) whether adolescents are creating more, but weaker ties using SITs, 2) to what extent adolescent SIT-facilitated networks overlap with friendship networks, and 3) whether SIT relationships are important for adolescents who have fewer offline peer ties. In order to investigate these questions, network data collection and analysis were integrated with more traditional questionnaire methodology and statistical analysis. The results show that the adolescents in the study were not creating more ties using SITs, nor were they necessarily creating weaker SIT-based ties; that there was little overlap between SIT-facilitated and offline social networks; and that socially isolated adolescents were less likely than other adolescents to use SITs.

INCLUSO Project website

Website Title

INCLUSO Project website

URL

http://www.incluso.org

Influence of New Media on the Identity Creation of Youngsters

Author

Bart Vanhoenacker

Abstract

721 adolescents (311 boys - 410 girls) completed the online survey. These results were supplemented by street interviews in Ghent and Antwerp, with the central problem: to what extent the new media exert a decisive influence on the process of identity? ". The impact on identity was made concrete by a split in the dominant language, social life and sport / movement. Also nicknames1, feelings, dates with friends or sweethearts and the reaction of the parents came to bid

Institution

Apestaartjaren

Date

2006

Information revelation and privacy in online social networks

Author

Ralph Gross

Author

Alessandro Acquisti

Author

John

Abstract

Participation in social networking sites has dramatically increased in recent years. Services such as Friendster, Tribe, or the Facebook allow millions of individuals to create online profiles and share personal information with vast networks of friends - and, often, unknown numbers of strangers. In this paper we study patterns of information revelation in online social networks and their privacy implications. We analyze the online behavior of more than 4,000 Carnegie Mellon University students who have joined a popular social networking site catered to colleges. We evaluate the amount of information they disclose and study their usage of the site's privacy settings. We highlight potential attacks on various aspects of their privacy, and we show that only a minimal percentage of users changes the highly permeable privacy preferences.

Date

2005

Proceedings Title

WPES '05: Proceedings of the 2005 ACM workshop on Privacy in the electronic society

Internet Paradox Revisited

Author

Robert Kraut

Author

Sara Kiesler

Author

Bonka Boneva

Author

Jonathon Cummings

Author

Vicki Helgeson

Author

Anne Crawford

Abstract

Kraut et al. (1998) reported negative effects of using the Internet on social involvement and psychological well-being among new Internet users in 1995201396. We called the effects a "paradox" because participants used the Internet heavily for communication, which generally has positive effects. A 3-year follow-up of 208 of these respondents found that negative effects dissipated. We also report findings from a longitudinal survey in 1998201399 of 406 new computer and television purchasers. This sample generally experienced positive effects of using the Internet on communication, social involvement, and well-being. However, consistent with a "rich get richer" model, using the Internet predicted better outcomes for extraverts and those with more social support but worse outcomes for introverts and those with less support.

Jongeren en Internet (Youngsters and the Internet)

Abstract

Interesting recent survey on new media and youngsters . Some of the interesting results that could inpsire the pilots to choose topics that are of most interest to youngsters: Also some good suggestions for further research and policies. Survey: 2.662 quantitative interviews (Belgium Nov - Dec 2007) Access of youth to the media and the Internet survey Topics: 1. Games (type, play time, preferences, financing, source) 2. Internet (number of visits, surfing, pre-adolescents, download, e-mail, chat, forum, blog, acts, preferred sites) 3. Risk management (risk sites, safety, risk management, parental supervision) 4. conclusions 5. suggestions

Just One Click - Sexual Abuse of Children and Young People through the Internet and Mobile Phone Technology

Author

Will Gardner

Abstract

The study, Just One Click, outlines the ways in which sexual abusers can exploit the internet and mobile phones to gain access to children who would previously have been beyond their reach. It also shows there is a disparity between current child protection practice, procedures and policies and the needs of "hi-tech" child abuse victims.

L'insertion des jeunes en France

Learning to Search and Searching to Learn: Income, Education, and Experience Online

Author

Philip N. Howard

Author

Adrienne Massanari

Abstract

Using data from the Pew Internet and American Life Project surveys, this article explores changing trends in reported sophistication and satisfaction with search skills and with search engines. We find that the proportion of Internet users searching online for answers to specific questions2014as opposed to casual browsing2014has grown significantly. Moreover, as users get more experience online, they increasingly become dependent on search engines, confident in their findings, and savvy about how search engines structure information, privilege paid results, and track users. When other factors are controlled, years of online experience is a strong predictor of the likelihood of a person doing specific searches on a daily basis, and experience can have an even stronger positive effect than education and income. We also find that years of online experience, frequency of use, and sophistication with multiple search engines can overcome socio-economic status in predicting how active a person is in searching across different topics.

M. Ignorance, Knowledge and Outcomes in a Small World

This study investigates self-presentation strategies among online dating participants, exploring how participants manage their online presentation of self in order to accomplish the goal of finding a romantic partner. Thirty-four individuals active on a large online dating site participated in telephone interviews about their online dating experiences and perceptions. Qualitative data analysis suggests that participants attended to small cues online, mediated the tension between impression management pressures and the desire to present an authentic sense of self through tactics such as creating a profile that reflected their "ideal self," and attempted to establish the veracity of their identity claims. This study provides empirical support for Social Information Processing theory in a naturalistic context while offering insight into the complicated way in which "honesty" is enacted online.

Measuring progress in e-Inclusion - Riga Dashboard 2007

Abstract

The Riga Dashboard is aimed at reporting progress in the achievement of policy targets set by the Ministerial Declaration signed in Riga on 11 June 2006 by 34 European countries. The Declaration defined “e-Inclusion” as "both inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the use of ICT to achieve wider inclusion objective and policies aiming at both reducing gaps in ICT usage and promoting the use of ICT to overcome exclusion". It recognised that ICTs are a powerful driver of growth and employment and that they contribute to improving the quality of everyday life and social participation of Europeans. It maintained that the fight against discrimination to improve ICT access for people with disabilities and the elderly is particularly important.

Measuring social capital within health surveys: key issues

Author

Trudy Harpham

Author

Emma Grant

Author

Elizabeth Thomas

Abstract

With growing recognition of the social determinants of health, social capital is an increasingly important concept in international health research. Although there is relatively little experience of measuring social capital, particularly in developing countries, there are now a number of studies that allow the identification of some key issues that need to be considered when measuring social capital. After summarizing definitions and the rise of interest in the link between social capital and health, measures used in key studies of social capital and health are presented. Some important issues are then considered: obtaining a sufficiently comprehensive measure which empirically captures the latest theoretical developments in the field (particularly the concepts of cognitive, structural, bonding and bridging social capital); moving from the individual to the ecological level; consideration of confounding factors, and validity and reliability.

Mobile Social Networks and Social Practice: A Case Study of Dodgeball

Author

Lee Humphreys

Abstract

A mobile social network system (MSNS) allows groups of friends to be accessed and engaged with from one’s mobile phone. Dodgeball is a MSNS that seeks to facilitate social connection and coordination among friends in urban public spaces. Based on a year-long qualitative field study, this article reports on the social and behavioral norms of Dodgeball use. A comparison between social network sites and Dodgeball highlights some of the communicative differences of mobile technology and the Internet. The findings of the study suggest that Dodgeball use can influence the way that informants experience public space and social relations therein. At times Dodgeball can facilitate the creation of third spaces, which are dynamic and itinerant forms of "third places." Additionally, exchanging messages through Dodgeball can lead to social molecularization, whereby active Dodgeball members experience and move through the city in a collective manner.

Mobilizing the Imagination in Everyday Play:The Case of Japanese Media Mixes

Author

Mizuko Ito

Abstract

The spread of digital media and communications in the lives of children and youth have raised new questions about the role of media in learning, development and cultural participation. In post-industrial societies, young people are growing up in what Henry Jenkins (2006) has dubbed “convergence culture”—an increasingly interactive and participatory media ecology where Internet communication ties together both old and new media forms. A growing recognition of this role of digital media in everyday life has been accompanied by debate as to the outcomes of participation in convergence culture. Many parents and educators worry about immersion in video gaming worlds or their children’s social lives unfolding on the Internet and through mobile communication. More optimistic voices suggest that new media enable young people to more actively participate in interpreting, personalizing, reshaping, and creating media content. Although concerns about representation are persistent, particularly of video game violence, many of the current hopes and fears of new media relate to new forms of social networking and participation. As young people’s online activity changes the scope of their social agency and styles of media engagement, they also encounter new challenges in cultural worlds separated from traditional structures of adult oversight and guidance. Issues of representation will continue to be salient in media old and new, but issues of participation are undergoing a fundamental set of shifts that are still only partially understood and recognized. My focus in this chapter is on outlining the contours of these shifts. How do young people mobilize the media and the imagination in everyday life? And how do new media change this dynamic?

Publication

International Handbook of Children, Media, and Culture,

“To fail to do so is to risk reinforcing societal divisions of gender and of socioeconomic class.” (1997, 7).

Does this mean that using this materials can be of use for the social worker as a means to communicate with the youngsters ?

The challenge here may lie in connecting an exercise using these media with the actual goal of the social worker.

How would Tonuso's people be able to use popular media as a way to get their youngsters to integrate better into society ?

New technologies tend to be accompanied by a set of heightened expectations, followed by a precipitous fall from grace after failing to deliver on an unrealistic billing.

The important question is not whether the everyday practices of children in media culture are “original” or “derivative,” “active” or “passive,”

but rather

the structure of the social world,

the patterns of participation, and

the content of the imagination that is produced through the active involvement of kids, media producers, and other social actors.

This is a conceptual and attentional shift motivated by the emergent change in modes of cultural production.

Today's media differ from older media in three key characteristics that distinguish them from prior media ecologies:

Convergence of old and new media forms;

authoring through personalization and remix,

and hypersociality as a genre of social participation.

National Strategy Reports on Social Protection and Social Inclusion 2008-2010

Abstract

Following the streamlining of the Open Method of Coordination on Social Protection and Social Inclusion, Member States are now charged with translating the common objectives into National Plans for each of the three areas of Social Inclusion, Pensions and Health and Long-Term Care. These plans, which cover a period of two years, are submitted to the Commission in the form of a National Report on Strategies for Social Protection and Social Inclusion.

Nieuwe communicatie in het jongerenwerk

Author

Huub Braam

Author

Marjolijn Distelbrink

Author

Esmy Kromontono

Abstract

Welfare organisations which are working with (problematic) youngsters are more and more convinced of the great use of new means of communication, such as internet. In the municipality of Hoorn, a project has started in 2006 on the use of MSN to reach hard to reach youngsters. Aim was to have better contact with these youngsters. The project was quite successfully. This report shows the results of the use of new communication tools and what are the pitfalls, boundary conditions and appointments that have to be made. (In Dutch)

On and Off the 'Net: Scales for Social Capital in an Online Era

Author

Dmitri Williams

Abstract

Scholars investigating the relationship between the Internet and social capital have been stymied by a series of obstacles, some due to theoretical frameworks handed down unchanged from television research, and some due to the lack of an appropriate yardstick. For example, the social interactions that occur through television are prima facie different from those that occur online. Given this basic functional difference, we cannot approach social capital research in an online era with the same set of assumptions and measures. To address this gap in the literature and in our measurement toolkits, this article reports on the development and validation of the Internet Social Capital Scales, or ISCS. These scales are intended to measure two different types of social capital-known as "bridging" and "bonding"-for both online and offline contexts. Question items are developed and tested and found to be valid and psychometrically sound. Potential uses of the scales are then discussed.

The aim of this study was to contrast the validity of two opposing explanatory hypotheses about the effect of online communication on adolescents' well-being. The displacement hypothesis predicts that online communication reduces adolescents' well-being because it displaces time spent with existing friends, thereby reducing the quality of these friendships. In contrast, the stimulation hypothesis states that online communication stimulates well-being via its positive effect on time spent with existing friends and the quality of these friendships. We conducted an online survey among 1,210 Dutch teenagers between 10 and 17 years of age. Using mediation analyses, we found support for the stimulation hypothesis but not for the displacement hypothesis. We also found a moderating effect of type of online communication on adolescents' well-being: Instant messaging, which was mostly used to communicate with existing friends, positively predicted well-being via the mediating variables (a) time spent with existing friends and (b) the quality of these friendships. Chat in a public chatroom, which was relatively often used to talk with strangers, had no effect on adolescents' well-being via the mediating variables.

This is a study (June 2008) concerning the challenges of the digital gap of the second degree, i.e. the social inequalities which can result from the difference in use of the information and communication technologies (ICT), and more specifically the Internet, once that access threshold has been overcome.

People People: Social Capital and the Labor-Market Outcomes of Underrepresented Groups

Publicly Private and Privately Public: Social Networking on YouTube

Author

Patricia Lange

Abstract

YouTube is a public video-sharing website where people can experience varying degrees of engagement with videos, ranging from casual viewing to sharing videos in order to maintain social relationships. Based on a one-year ethnographic project, this article analyzes how YouTube participants developed and maintained social networks by manipulating physical and interpretive access to their videos. The analysis reveals how circulating and sharing videos reflects different social relationships among youth. It also identifies varying degrees of "publicness" in video sharing. Some participants exhibited "publicly private" behavior, in which video makers' identities were revealed, but content was relatively private because it was not widely accessed. In contrast, "privately public" behavior involved sharing widely accessible content with many viewers, while limiting access to detailed information about video producers' identities.

Relational quality and media use in interpersonal relationships

Author

Nancy Baym

Author

Yan Zhang

Author

Adrianne Kunkel

Author

Andrew Ledbetter

Author

Mei-Chen Lin

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between relational quality and media use in relationships. In addition, the impacts of other potentially important variables such as the sex and relationship type of the participants and their partners are explored. College student participants focused on interaction experiences with an acquaintance, friend, romantic partner or family member. The results indicated that participant sex and partner sex did not affect reported media use, whereas relationship type had significant effects on the extent to which face-to-face and telephone communication were used. Relationships with acquaintances had the lowest relational quality and romantic relationships, while closer, were less satisfying than either family or friendship relationships. Same-sex relationships were perceived as more satisfying than cross-sex relationships. Finally, media use did not predict relational closeness or satisfaction. 10.1177/1461444807080339

Rhythms of social interaction: messaging within a massive online network

Author

Scott Golder

Author

Dennis Wilkinson

Author

Bernardo Huberman

Abstract

We have analyzed the fully-anonymized headers of 362 million messages exchanged by 4.2 million users of Facebook, an online social network of college students, during a 26 month interval. The data reveal a number of strong daily and weekly regularities which provide insights into the time use of college students and their social lives, including seasonal variations. We also examined how factors such as school affiliation and informal online friend lists affect the observed behavior and temporal patterns. Finally, we show that Facebook users appear to be clustered by school with respect to their temporal messaging patterns.

Riga declaration on E-inclusion

Abstract

The Riga Ministerial Declaration, signed by ministers from EU Member States, accession and candidate countries, and EFTA/EEA countries, sets out the following specific targets: •halve the gap in internet usage by 2010 for groups at risk of exclusion, such as older people, people with disabilities, and unemployed persons, •increase broadband coverage (i.e. the availability of broadband infrastructure) in Europe to at least 90% by 2010. In 2005, broadband was available to about 60% of businesses and households in the remote and rural areas of the EU15 and to more than 90% in the urban areas •ensure that all public websites are accessible by 2010, •by 2008, put in place actions in the field of digital literacy and skills to reduce gaps for groups at risk of exclusion by half in 2010, •by 2007, make recommendations on accessibility standards and common approaches, which could become mandatory in public procurement by 2010, and •assess the necessity for legislative measures in the field of e-Accessibility, and take account of accessibility requirements in the review of the electronic communications regulatory framework beginning in June 2006.

Social Capital and Finding a Job: Do Contacts Matter?

Author

Ted Mouw

Abstract

Does social capital affect labor market outcomes? The prevalent use of job contacts to find work suggests that "who you know" is an important means of getting a good job. Network theories of social capital argue that well-connected workers benefit because of the job information and influence they receive through their social ties. Although a number of studies have found a positive relationship between measures of social capital and wages and/or occupational prestige, little is known about the causal effect of social networks on labor market outcomes. Four data sets are used to reassess findings on the role of social capital in the labor market. A test of causality is proposed based on the argument that if social capital variables do have a causal effect on job outcomes, then workers with high levels of social capital should be more likely to use contacts to find work, all else being equal. Results suggest that much of the effect of social capital in the existing literature reflects the tendency for similar people to become friends rather than a causal effect of friends' characteristics on labor market outcomes.

Social Capital: A guide to its measurement

Author

Lochner

Date

1999

Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement, and Interaction

Author

James Katz

Author

Ronald Rice

Abstract

{Drawing on nationally representative telephone surveys conducted from 1995 to 2000, James Katz and Ronald Rice offer a rich and nuanced picture of Internet use in America. Using quantitative data, as well as case studies of Web sites, they explore the impact of the Internet on society from three perspectives: access to Internet technology (the digital divide), involvement with groups and communities through the Internet (social capital), and use of the Internet for social interaction and expression (identity). To provide a more comprehensive account of Internet use, the authors draw comparisons across media and include Internet nonusers and former users in their research. The authors call their research the Syntopia Project to convey the Internets role as one among a host of communication technologies as well as the synergy between peoples online activities and their real-world lives. Their major finding is that Americans use the Internet as an extension and enhancement of their daily routines. Contrary to media sensationalism, the Internet is neither a utopia, liberating people to form a global egalitarian community, nor a dystopia-producing armies of disembodied, lonely individuals. Like any form of communication, it is as helpful or harmful as those who use it.}

Social Exclusion and Social Solidarity: Three Paradigms

Social Exclusion: Comparative Analysis of Europe and Middle East Youth

Author

Hilary Silver

Abstract

Most typically, analyses of youth have employed either the neo-classical economic framework of human capital or the socio-demographic framework of lifecourse research in the Middle East. While both have produced important findings and insights, their focus on supply-side processes of individuals is limited. The role of institutions on the supply side is especially important in understanding youth disadvantage in the Middle East. As research turns to the sources of youth disadvantage, comparative studies may fruitfully adopt a perspective oriented to the idea of social exclusion. Whatever the content and criteria of social membership, socially excluded groups and individuals lack capacity or access to social opportunity. Exclusion breaks the larger social bond holding groups together. Thus, exclusion is at once a macro and a micro phenomenon. The theoretical orientation of social exclusion can be distinguished from the previous two approaches in that it considers trajectories of group relations as well as relations between individuals, and examines not only those excluded, but also the excluding institutions and individuals that benefit from the process. In this paper, we emphasize that social exclusion is context-specific, relationship, and multi-dimensional. Everyone goes through youth, and most of us are socially included, making the “normal” transition to adult social membership. However, studying the exclusion of youth as a status or group is justified insofar as age serves as a basis of social differentiation in both Europe and the Middle East that impedes full participation in adult social life. Thus, it is the intersection of youth with other dimensions of disadvantage that makes social exclusion a useful framework for analysis.

"Social exclusion is a multidimensional process of progressive social rupture, detaching groups and individuals from social relations and institutions and preventing them from full participation in the normal, normatively prescribed activities of the society in which they live."

From the individual's perspective social exclusion lacks access or capacity to social opportunity

From the perspoective of the larger society, exclusion breaks the larger social bond holding groups together.

Social exlcusion has many definitions based on national and ideological notions of what it means to belong to society (Silver 1994) These notions are grounded in cultural understandings as well as legal official and economic statuses.

Most nations have different interpretations of what it means to be socially excluded.

Social exclusion is a process, not just a consequence of a process.

Robert Castrel (1991) talks about disaffiliation, the fact that people might be more or less attached to certain groups.

We argue that during the transition to adulthood, youth has the need to experiment with identity, how they interact with others and their own place in society.

This experimentation often costs money, excluding youngsters from this experience or at least limiting their choice of outlets to do so. The peer group relations can then lead them into a negative spiral of social exclusion.

Young people are expected to prepare for at least five key adult roles : adult worker, citizen and community participant, spouse, parent and household manager. (Lloyd 2005, 3)

Youth is an especially critical age when one mistake can be paid for repeatedly throughout one's life.

Yet individuals can overcome their adolescent antisocial behaviour, especially through forming social bonds or having a solid love relationship.

Sampson and Laub (1993,13) document that a strong marriage, positive school experience, military service, moving place of residence and a good, steady job can provide the social stability and support for ex-offenders to stop committing crimes.

Silverberg et al. (1198) found that german apprentices with attachment to adults were less likely to approve of or engage in delinquency and were also more optimistic regarding their occupational future.

Social Exclusion: Concept, Application, And Scrutiny.

Author

Amartya Sen

Institution

Manila: Asian Development Bank

Date

2000

Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship

Author

D Boyd

Author

N Ellison

Abstract

Social network sites (SNSs) are increasingly attracting the attention of academic and industry researchers intrigued by their affordances and reach. This special theme section of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication brings together scholarship on these emergent phenomena. In this introductory article, we describe features of SNSs and propose a comprehensive definition. We then present one perspective on the history of such sites, discussing key changes and developments. After briefly summarizing existing scholarship concerning SNSs, we discuss the articles in this special section and conclude with considerations for future research.

Social Networking Sites - Public, Private, or What

Author

Danah Boyd

Abstract

Social network sites (SNSes) like MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo are ubiquitous and today’s youth are spending a great deal of time using these sites to access public life. How is public life shaped by social technology? How are the properties of mediated publics like social network sites different from unmediated publics? This article seeks to explore the social dynamics of mediated public life in order to help educators understand their role in socialising today’s youth.

Publication

Knowledge Tree

Date

2007

URL

http://www.danah.org/papers/

Social network(ing) sites…revisiting the story so far: A response to danah boyd & Nicole Ellison

Author

David Beer

Abstract

David Beer is Senior Lecturer and Head of Programme for Communication in the Faculty of Business & Communication at York St John University. He has written a number of chapters and articles on digital culture, and particularly digital music culture. His book New Media: The Key Concepts, co-authored with Nick Gane, is due to be published by Berg in 2008.

Social relations or social capital? Individual and community health effects of bonding social capital

Author

Wouter Poortinga

Abstract

Social capital has become one of the most popular topics in public health research in recent years. However, even after a decade of conceptual and empirical work on this subject, there is still considerable disagreement about whether bonding social capital is a collective resource that benefits communities or societies, or whether its health benefits are associated with people, their personal networks and support. Using data from the 2000 and 2002 Health Survey for England this study found that, in line with earlier research, personal levels of social support contribute to a better self-reported health status. The study also suggests that social capital is additionally important for people's health. In both datasets the aggregate social trust variable was significantly related to self-rated health before and after controlling for differences in socio-demographics and/or individual levels of social support. The results were corroborated in the second dataset with an alternative indicator of social capital. These results show that bonding social capital collectively contributes to people's self-rated health over and above the beneficial effects of personal social networks and support. Keywords: Social capital; Social support; Self-rated health; Multilevel modelling; Health survey for England; UK

Social Work and the Changing Face of the Digital Divide

Author

Jan Steyaert

Author

Nick Gould

Abstract

In this article, the concept of digital divide and its relation to social exclusion is analysed. After describing the several facets of the digital divide, the question is asked whether the divide is widening or narrowing? The definition of digital divide is reconsidered and the article argues that access to the technology alone is but a very rudimentary indicator of actually making use of digital opportunities. This is expanded in the section on risks arising from digital exclusion. Finally, implications of this approach of the digital divide for social work and social care are considered.

Soliciting and Providing Social Support Over the Internet: An Investigation of Online Eating Disorder Support Groups

Author

Kristen Campbell Eichhorn

Abstract

Using a longitudinal, systematic random sample of 490 postings, this study analyzed the type of social support provided, the strategies used to solicit social support, and the themes on the top 5 Yahoo! eating disorder discussion boards. Optimal match theory was used as the theoretical framework for the study. Results suggest that messages providing informational support were more prevalent than those providing instrumental support. Also, the findings revealed that the most frequent strategy for soliciting support was sharing experiences and the most frequent theme was positive affect. The results of the study highlight the significance of prosocial communication exchanges on these discussion boards.

Systemisch turen door mijn digitale raam

Tackling child poverty and promoting the social inclusion of children in the EU

Author

Hugh Frazer

Author

Eric Marlier

Abstract

It is clear from the evidence from the national experts’ reports that child poverty and social exclusion is a common and shared problem affecting all Member States and that in most countries children are at a greater risk of poverty and social exclusion than adults. However, there are also significant differences in the extent and intensity of the problem both between Member States as well as between different regions and between urban and rural areas within Member States. There are also important variations in the composition of child poverty and social exclusion. Member States where the proportion of children at risk of income poverty is highest also tend to be the countries where the problem is most severe and where urgent action is most needed. All this means that there is no one simple solution to child poverty and social exclusion. Countries are at very different levels of development and need to develop policy packages which take account of these different policy challenges. Although there are significant differences between Member States there are also a number of factors which, while not occurring in the same degree in all countries, recur frequently in a significant number of Member States. They will need to be addressed if a decisive impact is to be made in the reduction of child poverty and social exclusion.

Tackling child poverty and promoting the social inclusion of children in the EU — Peer Review in Social Protection and Social Inclusion and Assessment in Social Inclusion

Taken Out of Context : American Teen Sociality in Networked Publics

Author

Danah Boyd

Abstract

As social network sites like MySpace and Facebook emerged, American teenagers began adopting them as spaces to mark identity and socialize with peers. Teens leveraged these sites for a wide array of everyday social practices - gossiping, flirting, joking around, sharing information, and simply hanging out. While social network sites were predominantly used by teens as a peer-based social outlet, the unchartered nature of these sites generated fear among adults. This dissertation documents my 2.5-year ethnographic study of American teens' engagement with social network sites and the ways in which their participation supported and complicated three practices - self-presentation, peer sociality, and negotiating adult society. My analysis centers on how social network sites can be understood as networked publics which are simultaneously (1) the space constructed through networked technologies and (2) the imagined community that emerges as a result of the intersection of people, technology, and practice. Networked publics support many of the same practices as unmediated publics, but their structural differences often inflect practices in unique ways. Four properties - persistence, searchability, replicability, and scalability - and three dynamics - invisible audiences, collapsed contexts, and the blurring of public and private - are examined and woven throughout the discussion. While teenagers primarily leverage social network sites to engage in common practices, the properties of these sites configured their practices and teens were forced to contend with the resultant dynamics. Often, in doing so, they reworked the technology for their purposes. As teenagers learned to navigate social network sites, they developed potent strategies for managing the complexities of and social awkwardness incurred by these sites. Their strategies reveal how new forms of social media are incorporated into everyday life, complicating some practices and reinforcing others. New technologies reshape public life, but teens' engagement also reconfigures the technology itself.

Technology and Social Inclusion : Rethinking the Digital Divide

Author

Mark Warschauer

Abstract

{Much of the discussion about new technologies and social equality has focused on the oversimplified notion of a "digital divide." Technology and Social Inclusion moves beyond the limited view of haves and have-nots to analyze the different forms of access to information and communication technologies. Drawing on theory from political science, economics, sociology, psychology, communications, education, and linguistics, the book examines the ways in which differing access to technology contributes to social and economic stratification or inclusion. The book takes a global perspective, presenting case studies from developed and developing countries, including Brazil, China, Egypt, India, and the United States. A central premise is that, in today's society, the ability to access, adapt, and create knowledge using information and communication technologies is critical to social inclusion. This focus on social inclusion shifts the discussion of the "digital divide" from gaps to be overcome by providing equipment to social development challenges to be addressed through the effective integration of technology into communities, institutions, and societies. What is most important is not so much the physical availability of computers and the Internet but rather people's ability to make use of those technologies to engage in meaningful social practices.}

Teens and ICT: Risks and Opportunities - A report on the TIRO project

The Benefits of Facebook "Friends:" Social Capital and College Students' Use of Online Social Network Sites

Author

Nicole B. Ellison

Author

Charles Steinfield

Author

Cliff Lampe

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between use of Facebook, a popular online social network site, and the formation and maintenance of social capital. In addition to assessing bonding and bridging social capital, we explore a dimension of social capital that assesses one's ability to stay connected with members of a previously inhabited community, which we call maintained social capital. Regression analyses conducted on results from a survey of undergraduate students (N = 286) suggest a strong association between use of Facebook and the three types of social capital, with the strongest relationship being to bridging social capital. In addition, Facebook usage was found to interact with measures of psychological well-being, suggesting that it might provide greater benefits for users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction.

The digital divide in the playstation generation: Self-efficacy, locus of control and ICT adoption among adolescents

Author

Agnetha

Author

Keith

Abstract

Most research on the digital divide has focused on its socio-demographic correlates. Results indicate that age, gender and education, in particular, are major factors structuring the digital divide. So pervasive is the presence of age differences in the literature that many observers believe that the digital divide is basically a generational phenomenon that, in time, will disappear as younger computer literate cohorts replace older non-users. However, some researchers call this assumption into question. Moreover, the dominant focus on socio-demographics has led to a relative neglect of psychological factors as possible explanations for differential adoption and use of ICT. Consequently, the present study employs the social cognitive and self-efficacy theories of Bandura (1986, 1997) and the locus of control construct of Rotter (1966) in order to investigate some psychological correlates of the digital divide among a representative sample of Flemish adolescents (n = 1145). The results indicate that computer locus of control and ICT self-efficacy supplement socio-demographic explanations of the digital divide. The results, however, are gender specific, indicating that there are different processes operating for males and females.

The EU Social Protection and Social Inclusion Process

The Faces of {Facebookers}: Investigating Social Enhancement and Social Compensation Hypotheses; Predicting {Facebook} and Offline Popularity from Sociability and Self-Esteem, and Mapping the Meanings of Popularity with Semantic Networks

Author

Jolene Zywica

Author

James Danowski

Abstract

This research investigates two competing hypotheses from the literature: 1) the Social Enhancement ("Rich Get Richer") hypothesis that those more popular offline augment their popularity by increasing it on Facebook2122, and 2) the "Social Compensation" ("Poor Get Richer") hypothesis that users attempt to increase their Facebook2122 popularity to compensate for inadequate offline popularity. Participants (n= 614) at a large, urban university in the Midwestern United States completed an online survey. Results are that a subset of users, those more extroverted and with higher self-esteem, support the Social Enhancement hypothesis, being more popular both offline and on Facebook2122. Another subset of users, those less popular offline, support the Social Compensation hypotheses because they are more introverted, have lower self-esteem and strive more to look popular on Facebook2122. Semantic network analysis of open-ended responses reveals that these two user subsets also have different meanings for offline and online popularity. Furthermore, regression explains nearly twice the variance in offline popularity as in Facebook2122 popularity, indicating the latter is not as socially grounded or defined as offline popularity.

The Intellectual Challenge of CSCW: The Gap Between Social Requirements and Technical Feasibility

Author

M Ackerman

Abstract

Over the last 10 years, Computer-Supported CooperativeWork (CSCW) has identified a base set of findings. These findings are taken almost as assumptions within the field. In summary, they argue that human activity is highly flexible, nuanced, and contextualized and that computational entities such as information sharing, roles, and social norms need to be similarly flexible, nuanced, and contextualized.However, current systems cannot fully support the social world uncovered by these findings. In this article I argue that there is an inherent gap between the social requirements of CSCW and its technical mechanisms. The social–technical gap is the divide between what we know we must support socially and what we can support technically. Exploring, understanding, and hopefully ameliorating this social–technical gap is the central challenge for CSCW as a field and one of the central problems for human–computer interaction. Indeed, merely attesting the continued centrality of this gap could be one of the important intellectual contributions ofCSCW. I also argue that the challenge of the social– technical gap creates an opportunity to refocus CSCW.

The Internet and Knowledge Gaps: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation

Author

Heinz Bonfadelli

Abstract

Although the knowledge gap hypothesis is often mentioned in connection with the social consequences of the Information Society, there is little discussion of its theoretical background or specific empirical evidence. Therefore, this article explores the theoretical potential of the knowledge gap perspective for Internet research and presents data based on two recent Internet surveys, which demonstrate a double digital divide. Access to the Internet in Switzerland is still dominated by well-educated, affluent, young males and between 1997 and 2000 the gap between those who do and those who do not have access widened not narrowed. Furthermore, there are gaps in the use of the Internet too. More educated people use the Internet more actively and their use is more information oriented, whereas the less educated seem to be interested particularly in the enter-tainment functions of the Internet.

The impact of home computer use on children's activities and development.

Author

K Subrahmanyam

Author

RE Kraut

Author

PM GREENFIELD

Author

EF Gross

Abstract

The increasing amount of time children are spending on computers at home and school has raised questions about how the use of computer technology may make a difference in their lives--from helping with homework to causing depression to encouraging violent behavior. This article provides an overview of the limited research on the effects of home computer use on children's physical, cognitive, and social development. Initial research suggests, for example, that access to computers increases the total amount of time children spend in front of a television or computer screen at the expense of other activities, thereby putting them at risk for obesity. At the same time, cognitive research suggests that playing computer games can be an important building block to computer literacy because it enhances children's ability to read and visualize images in three-dimensional space and track multiple images simultaneously. The limited evidence available also indicates that home computer use is linked to slightly better academic performance. The research findings are more mixed, however, regarding the effects on children's social development. Although little evidence indicates that the moderate use of computers to play games has a negative impact on children's friendships and family relationships, recent survey data show that increased use of the Internet may be linked to increases in loneliness and depression. Of most concern are the findings that playing violent computer games may increase aggressiveness and desensitize a child to suffering, and that the use of computers may blur a child's ability to distinguish real life from simulation. The authors conclude that more systematic research is needed in these areas to help parents and policymakers maximize the positive effects and to minimize the negative effects of home computers in children's lives.

The Measurement of Community Social Capital Through Surveys

The online disinhibition effect.

Author

J Suler

Abstract

While online, some people self-disclose or act out more frequently or intensely than they would in person. This article explores six factors that interact with each other in creating this online disinhibition effect: dissociative anonymity, invisibility, asynchronicity, solipsistic introjection, dissociative imagination, and minimization of authority. Personality variables also will influence the extent of this disinhibition. Rather than thinking of disinhibition as the revealing of an underlying "true self," we can conceptualize it as a shift to a constellation within self-structure, involving clusters of affect and cognition that differ from the in-person constellation.

The Role of Friends’ Appearance and Behavior on Evaluations of Individuals on Facebook: Are We Known by the Company We Keep?

Author

Joseph Walther

Author

Brandon Van Der Heide

Author

Sang Kim

Author

David Westerman

Author

Stephanie Tong

Abstract

This research explores how cues deposited by social partners onto one’s online networking profile affect observers’ impressions of the profile owner. An experiment tested the relationships between both (a) what one’s associates say about a person on a social network site via "wall postings," where friends leave public messages, and (b) the physical attractiveness of one’s associates reflected in the photos that accompany their wall postings on the attractiveness and credibility observers attribute to the target profile owner. Results indicated that profile owners’ friends’ attractiveness affected their own in an assimilative pattern. Favorable or unfavorable statements about the targets interacted with target gender: Negatively valenced messages about certain moral behaviors increased male profile owners’ perceived physical attractiveness, although they caused females to be viewed as less attractive.

The Role of Status Seeking in Online Communities: Giving the Gift of Experience

Author

Joseph Lampel

Author

Ajay Bhalla

Abstract

This article examines online gift giving in the form of opinion, information, and advice that individuals post on websites. Research has highlighted altruism and reciprocity as the key motives behind such gift giving. We argue that informational gift giving is also strongly driven by status and status seeking, and that status sentiments are more likely to sustain virtual communities. Using theories of status seeking and self-presentation, we investigate the ways in which consumers construct status in online consumer communities. The data reveal insights into the strategies behind constructing a digital status and the rise of online systems to promote celebrity status within online communities.

The Strength of Internet Ties

The Strength of Weak Ties

Author

Mark Granovetter

Abstract

Analysis of social networks is suggested as a tool for linking micro and macro levels of sociological theory. The procedure is illustrated by elaboration of the macro implications of one aspect of small-scale interaction: the strength of dyadic ties. It is argued that the degree of overlap of two individuals' friendship networks varies directly with the strength of their tie to one another. The impact of this principle on diffusion of influence and information, mobility opportunity, and community organization is explored. Stress is laid on the cohesive power of weak ties. Most network models deal, implicitly, with strong ties, thus confining their applicability to small, well-defined groups. Emphasis on weak ties lends itself to discussion of relations between groups and to analysis of segments of social structure not easily defined in terms of primary groups.

The Strength of Weak Ties: A Network Theory Revisited

Author

Mark Granovetter

Abstract

In this chapter I review empirical studies directly testing the hypotheses of my 1973 paper "The Strength of Weak Ties" (hereafter "SWT") and work that elaborates those hypotheses theoretically or uses them to suggest new empirical research not discussed in my original formulation. Along the way, I will reconsider various aspects of the theoretical argument, attempt to plug some holes, and broaden its base.

The virtual geographies of social networks: a comparative analysis of Facebook, LinkedIn and ASmallWorld

The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom

Author

Yochai Benkler

Publisher

Yale University Press

Date

2006-05-16

Understanding Social Exclusion

Author

John Hills

Author

Julian Le Grand

Author

David Piachaud

Abstract

If the objective of creating a society with opportunity for all is to be achieved, understanding the roots and impacts of social exclusion is essential. This book is the most comprehensive attempt to examine the causes of social exclusion and the policies necessary to tackle it. It is based on recent research carried out in the ESRC Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at the London School of Economics. This research draws on all the social science disciplines, particularly economics, sociology, demography, and area studies. It will be of interest and importance to students and teachers in the social sciences and to all those concerned with social policy in Britain and more widely. Social exclusion is not a matter solely of cash poverty, although that is an important dimension of it. The concept of social exclusion is relatively new, both in political and academic prominence. This book analyses the concept and examines the extent of exclusion measured in different ways. Contributors examine and explain the latest developments in research on income dynamics and movements in and out of poverty and low pay; links in social disadvantage across generations; the long-term effects of the growth in lone parenthood, early motherhood, and other changes in family structure; neighbourhood deprivation and community organization; and the prospects for success of government policies towards child poverty, education, and social security.

Publisher

OUP Oxford

Date

2002-06-06

Using social psychology to motivate contributions to online communities

Author

Gerard Beenen

Author

Kimberly Ling

Author

Xiaoqing Wang

Author

Klarissa Chang

Author

Dan Frankowski

Author

Paul Resnick

Author

Robert E. Kraut

Abstract

Under-contribution is a problem for many online communities. Social psychology theories of social loafing and goal-setting can provide mid-level design principles to address this problem. We tested the design principles in two field experiments. In one, members of an online movie recommender community were reminded of the uniqueness of their contributions and the benefits that follow from them. In the second, they were given a range of individual or group goals for contribution. As predicted by theory, individuals contributed when they were reminded of their uniqueness and when they were given specific and challenging goals, but other predictions were not borne out. The paper ends with suggestions and challenges for mining social science theories as well as implications for design.

Date

2004

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of the 2004 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work

Variable Geometries of Connection: Urban Digital Divides and the Uses of Information Technology

Author

Michael Crang

Author

Tracey Crosbie

Author

Stephen Graham

Abstract

This paper proposes a new way of conceptualising urban 'digital divides'. It focuses on the ways in which information and communication technologies (ICTs) unevenly affect the pace of life within the urban environment. Based on a detailed case study of how ICTs are being used in an affluent and a marginalised neighbourhood in Newcastle upon Tyne, the paper suggests that urban digital divides need to be understood as more than uneven patterns of access. They emerge in this work as more than the presence or absence of specific technological artefacts. Rather, it is argued that different styles and speeds of technologically mediated life now work to define urban socio-spatial inequalities. The paper distinguishes between two such key styles and speeds. First, the paper argues that affluent and professional groups now use new media technologies pervasively and continuously as the 'background' infrastructure to sustain privileged and intensely distanciated, but time-stressed, lifestyles. Secondly, more marginalised neighbourhoods tend to be characterised by instrumental and episodic ICT usage patterns which are often collectively organised through strong neighbourhood ties. For the former, mediated networks help to orchestrate neighbourhood ties; for the latter, it is those neighbourhood ties that enable on-line access.

Web 2.0 is all about the feel-good factor.

Author

Celeste Biever

Abstract

The article explains how Web 2.0 sites that depend on users for their content, like YouTube and Flickr, encourage and entice members to participate. Incentives are offered that drive members to participate, such as an increase in status. The web sites also bring in new members simultaneously because gaining status often means inviting other people to view the site.

Publication

New Scientist

Date

December 23, 2006

DOI

Article

WHO | Economic returns to investing in youth in developing countries: a review of the literature

What can Social Capital and ICT do for Inclusion?

Author

Dieter Zinnbauer

Abstract

This paper was developed by JRC-IPTS in response to a request by the Directorate General Information Society and Media (European Commission) for research input into the process of drafting a Communication on eInclusion (2007) and into an Action Initiative for eInclusion (2008). It was first presented to stakeholders in a series of meetings in Brussels (September, 2006) and to EU Member State representatives at the eInclusion Subgroup Meeting (October 2006) where eInclusion policies were discussed. It presents the concept of Social Capital as a potentially very useful guiding principle to inform the design and implementation of eInclusion strategies. Its purpose is therefore twofold. First, it represents a stand-alone contribution to the academic and policy-oriented debate on the relationship between social capital, ICT and social inclusion. Second, it provides direct research input to the consultative process in the development of the Communication and Action Initiative on eInclusion, focusing on the priority themes for a European eInclusion agenda as defined in the Riga Ministerial Declaration of June 2006.

Existing sources at European level that can be used for the purposes of measuring aspects of social capital include panel data from the e-Living initiative4 or the European Community Household Panel (ECHP)5 as well as cross-sectoral data sources, such as the European Social Survey (EES),6 Eurobarometer,7 or the European Value Survey (EVS).8

What grass-roots groups and other civil society organizations can be identified as connectors and implementers for peer-learning projects for elderly people, disadvantaged youth, ethnic minorities etc.

How can already very busy community organizers or social workers be recruited into train-the-trainer and peer-learning schemes? What support mechanisms are required to ensure their participation?

How can the skills and expertise of community trainers be flexibly upgraded when new applications and technologies emerge that require different or more advances skills?

Social capital can be exclusive and excluding.

Exclusive : Gaining entry into a closely-knit community with strong mutual bonds and shared values can demand a level of adjustment and conformity that runs counter to individual diversity.

Excluding : Or similarly where participation depends on specific ascriptive features such as ethnic origin or religious denomination certain groups of people that do not share these features are excluded from the outset.

Policy effects : Finally, the excluding effect of social capital varies in degree and is to some extent an inevitable feature of creating a community or network. At the same time this risk of generating exclusion needs to be kept in mind when community groups are considered as partners in public service delivery and democratic governance, both roles that ultimately need to satisfy strong normative principles of equitable participation, accountability and representation.

Social capital enhances learning and the acquisition of skills

In education, many forms of learning are increasingly viewed as a social process.

Very often people encounter new information and are introduced to new practical knowledge through their friends and colleagues, while networks of professionals or colleagues provide an important platform to access, share, discuss and collectively evolve practical skills.

What's more social networking itself is an important training process. It helps practice and develop interpersonal skills such as the ability to reason, effectively communicate, engage with other perspectives, all viewed as increasingly important and commanding a wage premium in an increasingly service-oriented, globalizing knowledge economy.

Longitudinal studies in the US and the UK, for example, show that the sociability at early age significantly raised the probability to hold a job that requires people's skills and interpersonal tasks.

Individuals with extensive social support networks consistently perceive their own health and well being as more positive than individuals with fewer social network ties and are better able to cope with adverse life situations.

In addition, various studies have conclusively found social capital to exert a beneficial effect upon a number objectively diagnosed health conditions. For example, higher levels of social capital has been associated with lower rates of heart disease or infant mortality and higher life expectancy, even when controlling for income effects and other intervening variables, thus making social capital an important catalyst for active ageing.

Social capital helps to find a job, greases the wheels of the economy and is good for productivity

In economic life, social capital is viewed as important resource to find a job. According to estimates by the U.S. Department of Labor between 70 and 80% of jobs are found through networking (including contacting potential employers directly).

At macro level social capital is considered as providing the stock of trust, the social norms of fairness and good faith that cannot be guaranteed by laws and regulations alone and are indispensable for transacting efficiently in a market economy and for avoiding free-riding in the production and consumption of public goods.

In addition networks between colleagues of firms provide important infrastructures for collaborative work, innovation and information flows that are found to raise productivity.12

Social capital it is not intrinsically benign, but can be mobilized for negative purposes.

Policy effects : The fact that not all social capital is good social capital means that such policies should not seek to sponsor community groups and initiatives indiscriminately but need to carefully consider their purposes and objectives.

Social capital stimulates political participation, civic engagement and community governance

Ties with friends and colleagues and interlinked organisations of civil society are found to be important building blocs of democratic engagement.

At least as important as the mass media they provide mechanisms to articulate and discuss individual grievances, develop common interest, form political opinions and mobilize collective political engagement.

In addition, communities with higher level of social capital are associated with lower levels of violent crime and an enhanced perception of personal safety.13

Social isolation poses risks to individual well-being and health, as well as social cohesion.

Working definition of social Capital

Social capital refers to the extent, nature and quality of social ties that individuals or communities can mobilize in conducting their affairs

In this broad formulation social capital encompasses a wide variety of connections and networks and that people maintain with family, friends, neighbours, colleagues etc. and it also relates to the strength of social norms, such as trust, sense of commitment and reciprocity or shared understanding that can underpin these ties.

Whose Space? Differences Among Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites

Author

Eszter Hargittai

Abstract

Are there systematic differences between people who use social network sites and those who stay away, despite a familiarity with them? Based on data from a survey administered to a diverse group of young adults, this article looks at the predictors of SNS usage, with particular focus on Facebook, MySpace, Xanga, and Friendster. Findings suggest that use of such sites is not randomly distributed across a group of highly wired users. A person's gender, race and ethnicity, and parental educational background are all associated with use, but in most cases only when the aggregate concept of social network sites is disaggregated by service. Additionally, people with more experience and autonomy of use are more likely to be users of such sites. Unequal participation based on user background suggests that differential adoption of such services may be contributing to digital inequality.

www.eukidsonline.net

URL

http://www.eukidsonline.net/

European Research on Cultural, Contextual and Risk Issues in Children's Safe Use of the Internet and New Media.

The EU Kids Online project (2006-2009) examines European research on cultural, contextual and risk issues in children's safe use of the internet and new media across 21 countries. It is funded by Safer Internet plus Programme).

The site provides a searchable database of European research on children's experience online, plus best practice research FAQs and resources for researching children's internet use.

Young People and Emerging Digital Services - An Explanatory Survey of Motivations, Perceptions and Acceptance of Risks

`Extending Society': the role of personal networks and gratification-utilities in the use of interactive communication media

Author

John Dimmick

Abstract

This study examined the relationship among personal network characteristics, gratification-utilities and the frequency of use of three interactive communication technologies (landline telephone, email and instant messaging). A conceptual framework is presented, providing a rationale for three hypotheses predicting positive relationships between personal network characteristics (size, intimacy and physical proximity), gratification-utilities and frequency of use.The participants were 286 college students, whom research shows are primary users of interactive media. Hypotheses 1 and 2, proposing a link between network characteristics and gratification-utilities with frequency of use, were supported, while Hypothesis 3, predicting a link between the prior two variables, was only partially supported. Frequency of use was associated more strongly with network characteristics than with gratification-utilities across the three technologies. Of the network characteristics, network size was significantly associated with gratification-utilities. Directions for future research are discussed.